BUILDING BUILT ON THE ROCK

MATTHEW 16:13-19


      This event at the remote region of Caesarea Philippi (below Mount Hermon) marked the shift in Jesus’ training of the twelve. From this point onward, Jesus began to prepare the disciples for the cross–pointed to Calvary.

 

•         What men said about the Son of Man (16:13-14)

•         What the Father said about the Son of God (16:15-17)

•         What Jesus said about the Church (16:18-19; first usage of the word)


  I. Boss of the Church


Col. 1:18 [GNB]. He is the head of his body, the church; he is the source of the body's life. He is the first-born Son, who was raised from death, in order that he alone might have the first place in all things.


      A. Blood (Acts 20:28)


      B. Birth (Acts 2:47)


      C. Body (Col. 1:24)


      D. Bride (Eph. 5:27)


      Jesus declared Himself as the architect of the true church. Christians only enter the Church in the same manner Peter did, through a confession of faith in Jesus Christ.


      A. B. Bruce noted, “There were thus two revelations in one: of God as Father, and of Christ by the Father. Peter had become a Christian.” Endnote


      Christ’s ownership of the Church means surrender to His plan and purpose for the Church. The directives for the Church come from the Head.


      Christ gives each local fellowship a function in His kingdom work. Each church must obey Christ’s will and do His work.


      In 1970, Mission Control at the Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston successfully guided Apollo 13 back to the earth’s orbit after an explosion on the main spacecraft. By writing crucial new procedures in a matter of hours, Mission Control helped the crippled craft home. The astronauts obeyed the commands of the flight director.


 II. Building of the Church (petra–a ledge or cliff of rock; PetroV–a smaller detachment of the massive ledge Endnote )


Eph. 2:20-22 [CEV]. You are like a building with the apostles and prophets as the foundation and with Christ as the most important stone.

 21. Christ is the one who holds the building together and makes it grow into a holy temple for the Lord.

 22. And you are part of that building Christ has built as a place for God's own Spirit to live.


      A. Cornerstone (Ps. 118:22; Is. 28:16; Mt. 21:42; Acts 4:11)


      When the Bible referred to a cornerstone, it referred to the first stone laid for the foundation. The builders would take a stone from the quarry and chisel it carefully to get as near a right angle as possible. They would measure the placement of all the other stones against that cornerstone, that first measuring stone. All the walls of the building were determined by the standard of that stone. God measures all things by the cornerstone, Jesus Christ.


      B. Foundation (1 Cor. 3:11)


      Wuest said, “Because the foundation of the Church is the deity of Jesus Christ, the church is indestructible.” Endnote


      C. Pillar (1 Tim. 3:15)


      D. Living-stones (1 Pet. 2:5; real experiences with God–Jos. 4:8-9; 1 Sam. 7:12)


They Won't Miss Me! (E-sword)

Try to imagine how unattractive our church building would be if bricks in the wall were missing. Not only would it be unattractive, but it would also be weakening to the rest of the structure. If our building were missing bricks, we would get busy and correct that situation immediately.

Even as every brick in our church building is needed, so every living stone in the spiritual house is needed. How unfortunate when some member has the idea, "I'm only one; I won't be missed!"


          1. Spiritual house (1 Cor. 3:16)


              a. Increase (Eph. 2:21)


              b. Indwelt (Eph. 2:22)


          2. Royal priesthood (Ex. 19:6)


      God designed the building revealed to David as a place of prayer–a house to be inhabited and a house for intercession. A church building must be devoted to the priestly work of bringing souls to God.


      A church must maintain its reason for building. In 1636 the Massachusetts Bay Colony established Harvard College, named for John Harvard, a Christian minister who left a library and half of his estate to the new institution. The 1636 rules of Harvard declared:

“Let every student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well the maine end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal and therefore to lay Christ in the bottome, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning. And seeing the Lord only giveth wisedom, let every one seriously set himselfe by prayer in secret to seeke it of Him. Every one shall so exercise himself in reading the Scriptures twice a day that he shall be ready to give such an account of his proficiency therein, both in theoreticall observations of the language, and logick, and in practicall and spiritual truths.”


III. Battle of the Church


      A. Gates of hell (Acts 2:31; Rev. 1:18; Wuest–“council or ruling body” Endnote [Eph. 6:12])


      Robertson wrote, “Hades is technically the unseen world, the Hebrew Sheol, the land of the departed, that is death.”

“Christ’s church will prevail and survive because He will burst the gates of Hades and come forth conqueror.” Endnote


      Wuest wrote, “The councils of the Unseen will not overcome the Church, that is, the councils of Satan and his demons, for it is founded upon a Rock, even our God and Savior Jesus Christ.” Endnote


      B. Keys of heaven (Jn. 20:23; Acts 15:7; authority to open doors of opportunity for the gospel–Acts 14:27)


      Robertson said, “Every preacher uses the keys of the kingdom when he proclaims the terms of salvation in Christ.”


      Herschel Hobbs explained, “If the Church binds the Gospel on earth by not proclaiming it, heaven has already decreed that it is bound in heaven. On the other hand, if the Church looses the Gospel on earth, heaven has already decreed that it is loosed in heaven.” Endnote


This Is My Church (E-sword)

•         It is composed of people just like me.

•         It will be friendly if I am.

•         It will do a great work if I work.

•         It will make generous gifts to many causes if I am generous.

•         It will bring others into its fellowship if I bring them.

•         Its seats will be filled if I fill them.

•         It will be a church of loyalty and love, of faith and service.

•         If I who make it what it is, am filled with these,

•         Therefore, with God's help, I dedicate myself to the task of being

•         All these things I want my Church to be.


      Christ won the victory and determined the outcome of His kingdom. Now, it is up to the church to fulfill Christ’s mission in this world.


      Imagine that the devil held a conference to devise an effective method to stop the church. One demon suggested, “Persuade men that there is no God.” The devil overruled since man’s conscience tells of God’s existence. Another demon suggested, “Tell the church that hell and future punishment is a myth.” The devil turned that lie down since God put eternity in every heart. One demon in the conference said, “Let’s cast doubt on the Word of God.” This too the devil rejected because of the evidence for the Scripture. Then one suggested a new approach: “Tell the church that God exists, hell is real, and the Scripture is true; but just don’t get excited about it. Tell everyone to believe, but do nothing about it.” The conference adopted the strategy–“believe in Christ but just don’t take it seriously.”